I’ve recently encountered a personal problem that I could use some advice on and it relates to issues of politics and values that we’ve been discussing. I’ve been approached by CENTRA, a private company that works for the US military, to edit a “smart card” that they are distributing to Marines in Ethiopia. A smart card provides basic cultural information that is intended to facilitate interactions between marines and Ethiopians (see: http://www.mediafire.com/?ezznyjz1n3d for more details). My understanding is that US marines are advising the Ethiopian military concerning their recent invasion of Somalia. Essentially the Ethiopian government has been roped into fighting our war on terror in exchange for our ignoring their human rights abuses and importation of weapons from North Korea. I oppose the US military presence in the Horn of Africa for a number of reasons that I can go into in more detail if you’re interested.
So, clearly there is good reason not to participate in this project. On the other hand, the marines will be in Ethiopia regardless of what I do. Perhaps by getting involved in the production of information that will guide the actions of the marines I can reduce the damage done by their presence. It is debatable how much these cards actually could have an influence the behavior of marines, but assuming that they have at least some impact I think it is reasonable to assume they could do some good.
By participating in this project would I be legitimizing a military action that I strongly oppose?
Does the possibility of shaping marine views of Ethiopians in a direction of my choosing outweigh this possibility?
Will the impact of these smart cards be so negligible that it doesn’t really matter what I do?
I’m not sure if this is relevant but CENTRA has offered to pay me $500 for what would amount to at most one day of work.
I look forward to your advice.
5 comments:
I kinda thought it was the other way around--that the Ethiopians had roped us into fighting their war for regional dominance against Somalia by making highly dubious claims about Al Qaeda activity there.
Regardless of who's roping who, I say don't do it. It's not like you'd be able to sneak anything subvervise, or even particularly useful, into these cards--I'm sure there'll be someone vetting them to be sure of that; however futile you're own act of protest/refusal may be (I'm sure they'll find someone to do it), if you oppose something strongly I think it's usually a good thing to keep your hands clean...and finally, $500, while a lot for one day's work, isn't that much for compromising basic principals. For 5 or 10k I might be giving you different advice.
Thanks for input tigrenoche. I decided against participating in the smart card production. That sort of thing always has a weird attraction for me, perhaps it's the chance of actually being involved in something practical.
Also, it's definitely the Ethiopians who are doing the fighting and dying in Somalia. A US fighter jet bombed one spot where they thought Al Qaeda types were lurking (only non-terrorist civilians were killed) but other than that it's been the Ethiopian army doing all of the dirty work.
Wow, I'll have to save this dilemma for an ethics class discussion sometime.
I agree with TN that if you oppose these activities in Ethiopia then you should steer clear, mostly just because there's some risk you may come to regret involvement later on. The paycheck isn't worth the risk.
That said, it is not clear to that you would necessarily be doing anything wrong by helping put together a smart card. It seems like enabling soldiers to communicate with people, or even just treat them with more respect, would be a good thing. If you think that given our presence there the cards might have some such beneficial effects, then I think your involvement would be okay. I don't think you would be "legitimizing" the US's involvement there, any more than the presence of the Red Cross legitimizes a war.
Some people would disagree with me on the grounds that you shouldn't get involved in any way with anything you think is morally wrong. If those are your principles, definitely do not get involved.
It's strange how the amount of money you would get does seem to be a factor... TN brought it up and it passed my mind too. Hm.
It also might be worth considering whether your getting involved in this project might have ramifications for your academic career. It might not have any, but I can imagine that if in your work you are critical of US policy, your involvement in the smart card thing might be something that would, in some people's eyes, undermine your authority on the subject. These would be silly people, I think (all that should matter is that your research and arguments are solid), but there are plenty of silly people out there. Especially in the humanities.
DM, I know it aint American forces doing the dirty work there, just providing some high tech assistance; my understanding is that the reason we're involved there at all is that the Ethiopian government was able to convince whoever it is in the military/intelligence hierarchy that makes these decisions that the Somali dudes the Ethiopians are fighting aren't just local dudes interested in control of Somalia, but are in fact BIG SCARY AL QAEDA GUYS who must be crushed as part of the GWOT. They probably said something to the effect of if we don't help fight them in Mogadishu we'll be fighting them in Baltimore before long...if I was some third world authoritarian with local enemies I wanted crushed I'd probably try the same approach--cozy up to the US and tell them I needed help fighting Al Qaeda Cameroon or Al Qaeda Fiji, or whatever the case may be...
I agree with A about the ambiguity of the situation. It's certainly true that smart cards could potentially improve cross cultural interactions, and while that might have the positive effect of creating some bonds between US marines and Ethiopian soldiers, I think it would also support the overall mission in the region to which I am opposed. The Red Cross example is interesting. I certainly support providing medical attention to all combatants, but doesn't this also prolong war and provide more opportunities for violence? Groups like Doctors Without Borders argue that medical treatment is a human right that should be respected regardless of political position. I assume that if they had the opportunity Doctors Without Borders workers would have willingly treated both sides during the Rwandan genocide. Fortunately denying the marines access to my "cultural knowledge" concerning Ethiopia doesn't seem nearly as dramatic as denying a blood transfusion to someone who has just murdered an innocent family, but I suppose both operate on the same principle. I am participating in a specific struggle (undermining the marine mission in Ethiopia - obviously I'm exagerating here) rather than upholding a universal value (cross-cultural communication). I've always respected Doctors Without Borders for their insistence that certain values must be supported regardless of politics, but maybe I need to rethink this. I think DWB avoids politics for pragmatic reasons (neutrality ensures access to those needing treatment), but there may be situations where seemingly universal values need to be set aside in order to accomplish a particular political goal.
Tigrenoche: I think the Somalia is a little different than Fiji or Cameroon. The US has had its eye on Somalia for some time and I don't think they were relying on Ethiopian intelligence in this case. I don't think it's too unreasonable to believe that the people responsible for the bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi were based out of Somalia. Also, the Islamic Courts (the group that was driven out by the Ethiopians) had to take power from a variety of warlords who received their backing from the US (the phrase "US backed warlords" was common in mainstream news sources like the BBC or the Economist, despite the continued denial of such a relationship on the part of the US).
There was a truly awful op/ed piece that appeared in the LA Times about a month before the Ethiopian invasion. It was written by a former CIA operative who argued that the US should not ignore the growing power of Islamists in Somalia (the author referred to Somalia as "medieval") and that our Ethiopian allies offered a convenient way of eliminating this problem without spreading our own armed forces even thinner. Clearly the governments of the US and Ethiopia are both benefitting from the situation but I think it is a mistake overlook the long term involvement of the US in Somalia.
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